Hooked on gambling: by choice or by design?

Join this debate on whether gambling is a personal choice or a behaviour driven by the sophisticated design of gaming machines and social environments.

The event will feature a panel discussion and various additional interactive activities, including screening of the winning entries from a public video competition about how gambling affects people’s lives. (Find out more about the competition here.)

The event is part of Mental Health Week and will reignite important public discussion about the impact that gambling has on Australian lives and how the design of our environment (whether it be the machines, venues or advertising) gets people hooked on gambling.

The panel discussion will be hosted by Prof Murat Yücel and Dr Adrian Carter of the Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences (MICCN) and will feature a number of experts including:

Rev Tim Costello AO, spokesperson for Alliance for Gambling Reform, Chief Advocate of World Vision Australia, former spokesperson for the Interchurch Gambling Taskforce and former member of the National Advisory Body on Gambling.

Dr Charles Livingstone, Senior Lecturer and head of the Gambling and Social Determinants unit, Monash University, Australia.

Carolyn Hirsh, Psychologist, former politician in the Victorian legislature, and past gambler who regularly shares her lived experience.